The Clippers lost in the worst way possible

The same could be said of the Cavaliers. But at least they are still alive.

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

Our Daily Bread; Anders Zorn; 1886

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Scores

Cavaliers 96, Magic 103 (Series tied 3-3) — I have not been an alarmist about the Cavaliers … until now. I thought J.B. Bickerstaff did fine amid difficult circumstances the last two seasons. I thought that while Donovan Mitchell was certainly a flight risk, the window to join the Knicks was closing due to Jalen Brunson’s sudden superstardom and so Mitchell might actually prefer to extend his time in Cleveland a bit longer to let things sort out with teams he might be interested in. I thought that injuries involving the Darius Garland and the twin towers would help clarify a path forward for the front office, one that would likely result in a Jarrett Allen trade this summer and perhaps, if Mitchell re-committed, a deal moving Darius Garland, too.

All that was wrong. This is a disaster for Cleveland, and I should have seen it coming since I thought this series would go seven. Even with Allen sidelined, Evan Mobley was a total non-factor on offense (3 points on 1/5 shooting, how did you get one bucket when you have three offensive rebounds?). Mitchell put up a desperate 50. Desperate, and I mean that as a compliment to him and an insult to the rest of the Cleveland roster.

Garland wasn’t bad — he was the only other Cav to take more than seven shots — but he had an awful fourth filled with bad plays. Like this. And this. This wasn’t great. Didn’t love this. Garland’s fourth quarter: one shot (a desperation heave at the buzzer with the game out of reach), zero points, zero assists, three assessed turnovers plus the completely unforced 8-second violation.

The Cavaliers entered the fourth up seven, with a chance to close out the series and advance to Round 2. No one on Cleveland but Donovan Mitchell scored a single point in the quarter. Mitchell went 7/13 with two turnovers. The rest of the roster went 0/6, no free throws, no assists, six turnovers and zero points. The team outside of Mitchell did literally nothing on offense for an entire quarter of a close-out game. I said desperate, right? Yeah. He was desperate for just a little offensive help, and got none when it counted.

I’d be furious if I were him.